Egg: This unmistakable egg always has a light honey coloured hue
throughout (A), and the light amber oil globules resemble a bunch of grapes. The
embryo is densely covered in yellow pigment, which, on the yolk, is
concentrated on the perimeter away from the embryo (A). The eggs usually hatch
in the bucket or bowl, during evening processing, indicating an incubation period
of about 24 hours.

The larva
proved easy to rear, despite only small numbers of eggs being obtained at any
one time. Three larvae from eggs have been barcoded, and match 5 locally collected adults (BOLD).

These amazingly precocious larvae were settling on the bottom of the
rearing tank at about day 12 (F), when flexion was also complete. Note that the
left eye has not completed its journey to the right side (F). This is also the
size and stage seen recruiting into the Lovu and Mkomazi estuaries. In a batch
of 57 juveniles collected recruiting into the Mkomazi estuary on 19 October
2005, mean SL was 3.5mm (preserved) and all had the left eye in transit.

Linked Samples

Offshore

Inshore

Eggs

21

53

Hits

4

16

This species
spawns all year round, with a peak in winter (blue graph). Annual egg numbers
have dropped since 1988, when exceptional numbers were collected.
The egg was only seen twice in the DHM samples, in May and November. It has
also been recorded from St Lucia estuary (Connell 1996). In the Park Rynie
linked samples, the egg was more frequently seen in the inshore samples (72%),
indicating spawning shoreward of the 20m depth contour. See Section 7.3 and
Table 1 of the Introductory Notes, for more information on the linked samples.